


Embodied (Discontinued)

by hellokatie



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Robots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-03
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-16 06:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2260152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellokatie/pseuds/hellokatie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an argument with Sehun, Jongin fears a lonely summer ahead of him. Although, once receiving a strange box at his doorway, he realizes it may not be so bad after all.  (UP FOR ADOPTION)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

** June 13th, 2:25 PM **

 

 The ticking of the clock was in perfect sync with Jongin’s tapping foot.

 He glanced at the clock yet again, and only 5 minutes had passed since he last checked.

_ You’ve got to be kidding me. _

 Jongin was incredibly antsy. It was the last day before summer break, and he was extremely tired of looking at the gray walls surrounding him.

Another look at the clock. It was now 2:30 PM and there was only half an hour left.

_ So close but so far. _

His professor kept going on and on about GMO’s, despite the fact that it was the last day. It’s not like anyone was really listening, and Jongin could see the slight glow of cell phones across the classroom.  

He pulled his own phone out of his pocket, checking for any recent messages. He saw he had one waiting.

It was from his friend Sehun:

** “ay punk dont forget we are meeting today :ppp” **

He could stand the lack of capitalization and punctuation, but the emotes were a bit much.

Jongin responded under the desk with a practiced fluidity:

  **“Yeah, I didn’t forget.”**

Then, he sent another as an afterthought.

  **“Don’t text me while I’m in class.”**

 Sehun was quick to reply:

  **“i do what i want ;p”**

 Jongin chuckled to himself, and slipped his phone back into his jeans.

 The clock read 2:33 PM. Texting had only taken three minutes. Deep sigh.

 

* * *

 

He stepped into the open air and breathed a sigh of relief.  The next two months were his, and his alone.

The plan was to meet at a small cafe not too far from his university. On the way there, he practically had a spring in his step. As he went, he passed by a person handing out fliers. Not wanting to be rude, he graciously accepted, barely skimming over the contents of the page before stuffing it in his bag.

As soon as he arrived at the cafe, he immediately spotted Sehun. For some strange reason, Sehun thought it was a good idea to get a middle part and dye his hair blonde, and even stranger, Jongin…liked it.

Not that he would ever tell Sehun that.

To be completely honest, Jongin wasn’t entirely straight. He never really cared too much about gender, but he doesn’t really make it a point to bring it up every chance he can get. It isn’t really anyone elses business, in his opinion. Especially not Sehun’s.

_ Unless he, you know, got involved-- _

“Yo, Jongin, over here!” Sehun called out, interrupting Jongins inner monologue.

_"Fuck , ” _ he thought, _“_ _I must have been staring, I hope no one noticed.”_   He quickly looked around before taking a few quick strides to reach the table his friend was sitting at.

“Hey, long time no see,” he said jokingly. They had seen each other only a few days ago.

“Haha, yeah,” Sehun replied. He seemed quieter than usual, playing with the straw in his drink, seemingly avoiding Jongin’s eyes.

“So, why did you call me out here? It seems a bit formal.” It was very unlike Sehun to actually plan sometime to hang out. Normally, he would have just shown up, which he did quite often.

Sehun looked at him and grinned.

“Okay, so...well you see I was offered to have an internship with this company in China by this family friend we have...my mom thinks it will be good for me, considering I haven’t really done anything with myself yet.”

_Family friend? From China? _  Jongin has known the Oh’s for practically his entire life, yet he knew nothing of this family friend from China.  _ Was it Zitao? No, probably not, for one Sehun’s mom hates him, and another, he wasn’t exactly the most ambitious guy around._

“What’s their name? What does the company do?” _I sound like a paranoid girlfriend._  If Sehun thought the sudden intrusiveness was out of place, he didn’t let it show.

“The friends name is Lu Han, and actually, it’s a modeling company. I’ll be starting out as an assistant and work my way up from there. To be honest, it's mostly something to do rather than just laying around all day.” He shrugs his shoulders. “It’ll be an adventure I guess, though I know pretty much zero Mandarin. Lu Han is fluent in both Mandarin and Korean, so he can help me if I need it.”

"That sounds....really great!” Jongin said, finally. “How long is it for?"

"Oh yeah, about that, I am having a goodbye party in like,  three days, and then I’m leaving the next morning."  _Oh._   "it’ll be for at least three months."

Well. This was just a tad bit disappointing, though Jongin tried not to let that show on his face.

"Why are you only telling me now? I mean, you must have known for a while.”

“It was only confirmed a few nights ago, so I didn’t want to tell anyone in case it didn’t end up happening.”

"I was with you a few nights ago."

"It happened after you left."

Jongin didn't  say anything. For a few minutes they sat in a tense silence, giving only a mumbled “thank you” to the waitress who brought his beverage.

Sehun, as dense as he can be, picked up on Jongin’s sulky attitude.

“Hey man, don’t look so pissed about it.”

“Pissed?”  _ Shit ,  I guess it showed. _  “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, just that it sounded like you were in actual pain to say that it sounded great.”

“Don’t you think that that’s a bit of a stretch?”

“You could at least try to act happy for me, you know?”

“I am happy for you,” Jongin couldn’t even convince himself. “Really, I am."

“Okay.”

“Yep.”

“Welp. Um. How was class?”

“The usual.” Jongin said in a clipped manner. He took a sip from his drink and looked at some nondescript portion of wall.

“Do you want to go do something or..?”

“Mmm, I don’t know.”

Sehun laughed in disbelief.  

“Oh my god why are you being such a dick right now?”

For some reason, at that point, Jongin snapped.

“Oh,  I’m  the one being a dick? What about you, going off to China, not telling me! I mean god damn I thought we were  friends.  You could have at least told me when it was tentative! Why does it have to be a goddamn conspiracy?!”

“Jongin, that doesn’t even make sense, what the hell-” Sehun pauses. “It’s actually about my friends, isn’t it? Sure, some are assholes, but others really aren’t that bad just give them a chance--”

“It’s not about your goddamn friends. Look, I don’t even know. I have stuff to do.” Jongin pulled out his wallet and threw down a few crumpled bills. “I have to go. Bye.” Without looking back, Jongin slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the cafe.

* * *

 

When Jongin left, he didn’t really have a clear direction of where he was headed.

After wandering for a while, he found himself in front of the dance studio.

He internally debated whether or not he should go inside, since it had been a while since he was last there. College had taken up a lot of his time so he gave up attending the studio religiously in favor of friends and schoolwork.

_Ha, so much for that. _  Jongin quickly shook his head as if to clear the negative thoughts from his brain, and entered the studio.

He made his way to a practice room he know would be empty (it always was this time of day) and walked in. He slung his bag off his shoulders and looked through it, hoping to maybe find a pair of pants that he could  _ actually _  dance in.

Which he didn’t. No surprise there.

Although, he did find something that caught his interest.

It was the flyer he was given earlier. He took it out of his bag and went and sat in the middle of the floor of the practice room.

The page had a lot of stupid decorations and clip art, but the actual message was very brief. On the flyer it said:

**“ Feeling lonely? Call now to get a special offer that will change your life! ”  **

Underneath that was a single, normal looking phone number.

Now, Jongin had been around enough to know what this advertising implied, but to pass out these flyers in broad daylight seemed really suspicious. Feeling adventurous, Jongin decided to call.

It rang for only a few moments, connecting to the other end fairly quickly.

A silly, nearly theatrical voice that seemingly belonged to a man answered.

“Hmm, yes hello~ and what may you be calling for~?”

“Uh, I’m--” Jongin sputtered, he felt immensely caught off guard by the suggestive, almost _greasy_ nature of the speakers voice. “--lonely?” He nearly squeaked out the last syllable.

“Yes, and what do you want to fulfill your desire, we have a variety of--” feeling embarrassed, Jongin ended the phone call, cutting the speaker off mid-sentence.

_ What the hell am I doing? _

Since he didn't have any pants to dance in, he packed up his bag and left.

On his walk home, it started to rain. Jongin pulled up the hood on his sweatshirt and started jogging, but he was already too soaked for it to actually make a difference.

He slowed down, and was left alone with the steady pitter-patter of the rain around him and the thoughts flowing through his head.  

While he was genuinely happy for Sehun, he was still a bit upset about not telling him about China. He figured the whole friends since childhood might have meant something, but maybe not. Truthfully, Jongin was a little bit jealous that Sehun was doing something with his life.

No, that’s a lie.

In actuality, Jongin just didn’t want to be alone.

 

* * *

 

Jongin walked up the two flights of stairs that led to his rooftop apartment. It wasn’t much, and was pretty grungy, but it was cheap, and it was his.

Instead of going inside, he sighed and banged his head against the door.

“Stupid stupid stupid,” he muttered to himself.

_ What was even the point of that? He's leaving in less than a week, and who knows? He still may be mad at me then I’m probably not even invited anymore besides all his friends are going to be there and I only know like what three of them? Augh its so useless to think about. _

Without taking his head off the door, he felt around in his pants pocket for his key, shoving it with an immense force into the lock (it was a bit dented) and opened the creaking door. He shuffled inside and dropped his bag to the ground, kicking his shoes off at the same time.  

Not turning on the lights, he made his way into the dark living room and fell face first on to the couch.

As he lay there, the weight of what had conspired within the past few hours finally took its toll on him, and he let a dreamless sleep overtake him.

 

* * *

 

 June 15th, 1:43 PM

He was laying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Sunlight filtered in through a crack in his curtains, hitting him right in the eye. He groaned and rolled onto his side, in an attempt to pretend that nothing had happened.

It had been two days since his argument with Sehun. He was trying not to dwell on it too much, and it wasn’t that hard because his thoughts were beginning to get distracted by something else.

His stomach, and how empty it was.

As if it were second nature, Jongin reached for his phone on the side table, dialing the number for KFC.

He tapped the speaker phone icon on his phone screen and placed the phone next to him on the bed, ringing for a few seconds before getting answered.

“Hello, this is KFC, will your order be for pickup or delivery?” Jongin recognized the voice on the other end of the line.

“Hey Jinki, it’s Jongin~ I want my usual, okay?”

“Oh, okay. That’s delivery, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, we will have your order to--”

“Do you want to hang out?”

“Umm?? I have work..."

“Yeah sorry I just-- yeah I’m getting my usual. Sorry.”  If Jinki had anything else to say, Jongin hung up before he could hear it.

_ Why am I such an embarrassment to myself. _

He laid in bed for a bit longer.

_ I should get a job or something. _

_ I don’t like to do anything?? _

_ Maybe I can ask Taemin if I can help teach at the studio…no I’d probably just be a nuisance. _

In the midst of his crisis, he heard a knock at the door.

_Chicken!_   As if he were a small child on Christmas morning, Jongin hopped out of bed, not bothering to put a shirt on, and ran to the door, grabbing his wallet on the way.

He opens his door and-- oh, oh god what even is this?

There is a huge box right in front of his door.

Luckily enough, it’s not so tall that he can’t see over it, roughly 8 or 9 cm shorter than he is.

He looked around outside to see if there was anyone that delivered it.

Which, surprise surprise, there was no one.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

_ Is this some kind of prank? _

_ I don't think I'm on anyones bad side.... _

_ Oh my god is it Sehun in there?? _

_ No he's too tall he wouldn't fit. _

Jongin decided, against his better judgement, that he should bring it inside.

Which of course, was easier said than done.

The box literally weighed like 90 kilograms probably.

And yes, while Jongin did dance, and had some semblance of muscles, he wasn't exactly built like the Hulk.

Overall the process was tricky, sweaty, and the door had more dents than it did at the beginning of the process. 

At that point, the box was now laying in the middle of his living room. Jongins mind was now racing through the past week or so to try to remember if he actually ordered anything.

The box itself was free of any sort of writing or return address, and the only thing Jongin had ordered was food.

Feeling adventurous, he opened the box, figuring that there may be some sort of address or number or something he could contact to send it back.

Now, he didn't actually know  _how_   to open the box. It wasn't cardboard, but a wooden crate.

"What the heck..." he commented to himself.

_ How the hell am I supposed to open this? _

He then remembered the crowbar Sehun had left here almost three months ago.

_ It's a good thing Sehun has no sense of responsibility. _

_ Now, where did he leave it? _

He finally found the crowbar wedged in between the back of the TV set and the wall. He had no idea how it got there, and he didn't really want to know.

He then set to work trying to pry the lid off of this box.

He couldn't stop his brain from treading into uneasy territory, though.

_ What if its filled with bombs? Or illegal drugs? Oh my god... what if its a dead body??  _

At that point the lid was nearly off, and if it did turn out to be any of those things, he would call the police immediately, of course.

He wasn't expecting there to be an actual body in the box.

He screamed, in the most ear piercing, totally  _not_   manly style ever.

Except, when he actually looked at it again, he decided that it wasn't dead. It might not have ever been alive, for that matter.

Next to the body was a thick packet. He grabbed it, and avoided touching the figure.

He looked at it. All it said on the cover was OWNERSHIP GUIDE with some writing underneath in a tiny font.

He flipped through, hoping to find some sort of phone number to call.

Which he didn't. Of course.

What he did find though, was a page labeled START UP.

"Start up? So that means..."  _ Is it a robot, or an android, or something like that? I think I remember hearing about them back in highschool..._

Unable to recall the memory, he ended up skimming through the pages of the manual, which then confirmed his thoughts. He also discovered that the only way to start it up was to kiss it.

Seriously. Like what is this, some sort of shoujo manga?

Jongin looked down at the face of the android, and was perplexed by the pristine, lifelike quality of its skin, which was completely smooth and pale, clear of any blemishes.

_Sort of like an idols skin on TV._   He chuckled, and then had a weird thought.

_ What if idols are-- no, that's ridiculous, there are way too many of them. _

Shaking his head as if to clear the thoughts, he looked back down at the face of the figure.

_ The ownership guide said I just needed to kiss it right? I might as well try, it’s not like it’ll actually work. _

Taking one look around as if to make sure no one was watching (which was impossible, since he lived alone on a rooftop) he slowly leaned down, and closed his eyes.

On initial contact, the lips of the android were cold, but soft.

It wasn’t until the lips actually  _responded_   that Jongin realized what he was doing.

Panicked, he flew back from the box, startled from the response he elicited from the robot.

The android blinked twice and sat up, revealing large doe eyes. It looked around the room in a manner that was a mix between calculating and in wonder. It locked eyes with Jongin, and tilted its head to the side, as if debating what it was going to say.

“What’s my...name?” It said, its voice smooth rather than robotic.

Jongin hadn’t realized he was holding his breath. He exhaled, and shook his head, still shocked.

“Yo-your name?” Jongin stammered.

No response, just the same quizzical look it had before.

“Umm..” he looked around and saw on the ownership guide in small font the words:  _ Detail O riented model no. 12._

“It’s D...O. D.O.” Jongin stated, not entirely sure of himself.

Seemingly satisfied with the answer, the android smiled.

“D.O.” It said, as if confirming the name. “Okay.”

Jongin couldn't say anything else. He only stared at the robot sitting in front of him. This entire situation was too surreal, and the fact that the robot was staring right back at him, completely unblinking, put him on edge.

Jongin cleared his throat.

"So you're...male?"  _ Of course it's male, I can see that clear as day._

 "Yes, my model is designed with male genitals, although I do have a female  counterpart ."

  _It- no, he, speaks so matter-of-factly._

“Oh that’s--” a knock at the door cut Jongin off mid-sentence.

Jongin looked to the door, while D.O. just sat there, looking at him expectantly.

"Umm...just stay there."

He stood up quickly.

_ I wonder who it is. _

_ I hope its not another robot. _

He opened the door just a tiny bit to peek outside, and was surprised to see Jinki standing there with his chicken. He wasn't quite sure  why  he was so surprised to see him, considering he ordered the chicken less than an hour ago.

"Here's your chicken, the total is 12.55."

_ Oh, right, chicken. _

" Oh _uhh_ okay let me just go grab my wallet..."

He slammed the door harder than he intended, and shuffled around looking for his wallet.

He quickly located it thrown onto the shelf he has next to the door, and peeked back outside. He took the bills out of his wallet and shoved them at Jinki, and grabbed the chicken.

“Oh, and about what you said earlier” Jinki started, “I am actually off my shift sooner than I thought, so we can still do something if you want?”

_ Fuuuuuck how am I supposed to respond to that I can’t just say a love robot just showed up at my door!? _

“Umm, something came up my grandmother is in the hospital”  _literally what the fuck am I doing_   “and I have to go see her later so it looks like I can’t make it sorry.”

With that, Jongin grabbed the chicken, slammed the door shut in Jinki’s face, and backed up against it.

“I am literally an awful person.” Jongin made a mental note to call his grandmother later.

Not moving from his position from the door, he broke into the chicken. He quickly devoured a piece, and only when the second one was in his mouth, did he realize that D.O. was no longer in his box.

Or anywhere in sight, for that matter.

Which means that there is currently a small, naked, android currently wandering around his apartment.

Not giving up the chicken, he walks from room to room, (granted, there aren’t that many. He  _is_   a college student, after all.) looking for D.O.

Finally, upon entering his bedroom he spots the android standing with his back to him looking at something on the side table.

With a closer look, he sees it’s a picture of Jongin and Sehun, a candid that was taken back in their first year of High School. Jongin is shoving Sehun playfully, with a grin on his face, and Sehun is in the middle of retaliating. Jongin can’t remember what they were fighting about, but it’s one of his favorite pictures.

Thinking about that caused him to think about the actual argument he had a few days prior, with Sehun, and feels a pang of sadness mingled with a bit of regret.

Suddenly alert of Jongin’s presence, D.O. looks up and smiles at him, and Jongin is struck by just how _handsome_   the android is.

The sunlight streaming in from the window illuminates his skin, and it looks as if he’s glowing. It shines through the little bits of hair, so it doesn’t look black, but a dark brown mixed with just a touch of red. He notices how innocent his eyes look, and the perfect curve of his lips. Thoughts of Sehun are immediately pushed away, and, for a moment, Jongin can’t remember why he was so sad.

In that moment, he was filled with the realization that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t be alone.

End of Chapter 1.

 


	2. Hey There!

Hey everyone! I'm not sure if anyone actually checks up on this fic, but I wanted to let you know it is most likely discontinued. 

I have sort of adapted the idea (surprise robot! antics ensue!) into a more comedic, less dramatic version with a different pairing. More specifically, BangHim from BAP. 

I may or may not add a chapter, maybe some fluffy bits, but nothing really substantial, and definitely not developing into an actual story. If someone wants to adopt this fic, feel free to send me a message and we can talk about it! If you wanted to know my somewhat plans for it, we can talk about that too.

I'm really sorry if this makes anyone sad, but my love for EXO has sort of waned, and with it, this fic. I hope if any of you are fans of BAP you will stick around for my other fic. It is definitely going to take a different route than this one. 

Thanks for reading, and again, I'm sorry  
-hellokatie

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!! So, this is a fic I started forever ago, and just got around to finishing the first chapter. I can't promise you that chapter updates will be frequent, but I will try my best to write and update as quickly as I can! Also, don't worry-- I am not keeping Kyungsoo's name as D.O. It will change probably in chapter 2~
> 
> My friend is also writing a sister fic to this story, featuring Tao and a Kris bot~ maybe she will post it one day but parts of our stories will intertwine.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this! Leave lots of comments please!


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